“This time of year really is an opportunity for reflection both personally and as a citizen of the United States and of the world,” Central Synagogue Rabbi Peter Rubinstein told WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell.

Rubinstein said the holiday is also a time to take down natural defenses and look within.

“The defenses which would restrain us from being honest about ourselves,” Rubinstein told Haskell.

The NYPD has announced additional resources for synagogues and Jewish communities over the high holidays. The NYPD said there is no specific threat to Jews in New York City, but the stepped-up patrols are done out of an abundance of caution.

The high holidays end with the day of atonement. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Tuesday, Sept. 25.